Friday, July 13, 2012

Friday Roundup

Favorites and duds from today's commenting.

Favorites, in no particular order:

Here's a funny little pull from Raysism in the Atheist Night post. I'd also like to give a quick hat-tip to Raysism for continuing his quiet little antagonism of MMA fans today. I'm for this - these don't have to be show-stoppers, but by accumulation they become very, very funny. Everyone has to be careful with this kind of thing, but the truth is I found myself chuckling at Raysism making virtually the same needling dig at MMA today as previously. Funny stuff.

Sponsored by V8 dropped this hilarious bit of dialogue in the Atheist Night post, earning a big round of applause. Dialogue jokes on Deadspin are getting better and better. Sometimes longer and more elaborate and imaginative, other times more succinct and elegant. This was obviously the latter - a sharp little back and forth, absolutely stuffed with personality. Great one.

Boy, this is just fantastic, from TheCityGame in the Atheist Night post. That's a fucking whopper of a one-liner, from some dude I've never heard of before. Everything about this is wonderful, from the wordplay to the unnecessary but hilarious choice of performer. So great.

Here's the rare successful movie reference, from Lionel Osbourne in the Atheist Night post. The joke obviously lies outside the simple reference, which is why it works. It takes the movie sequence and twists it in a new direction, managing along the way to impart a hefty portion of character with minimal language.

Hey, John Owens is back, doing the razor-sharp wordplay one-liner thing again. This one, in the TDF Face Plant post, is ridiculous and outrageous and funny as all hell. I suspect this guy is a ringer, but I hope not.

Here's something funny from Steve U in the Fucking Black Cunt post. I'll be honest: I wasn't in love with this joke until I read the team name at the end, and that was all it took. It doesn't exactly function as the punchline - clearly, the notion that a lack of racism makes a team unfit for inclusion is also intended to carry some comedic value - but sometimes it's the goofiest, silliest touch in the joke that actually packs the punch. We Hate Black People FC is just a hysterical fucking name for a football team.

Oh goddammit, every part of this comment is fucking hilarious, from BronzeHammer in the Olympic Links post. Every single part. The description and each of its component bits, and the attribution at the end. That's a great, great comment. Later, BronzeHammer also did this, in the Mail Sandwiches post. These are wonderful jokes. They utilize virtually the same mechanics to the same tremendous effect. A creative, confident, patient delivery of several funny ideas, followed by a pitch-perfect punch-packing pachyderm. Oh wait, that was supposed to say attribution. Or, better yet, a punchline! No, actually, it's not fair to really even call it a punchline - the whole joke, from top to bottom, is a long run of funny ideas grouped together to maximum effect. The final line might round them all up into a certain context, but that doesn't necessarily make it the punchline. I suppose jokes don't all need punchlines, after all.

Goddammit. You guys are so fucking great. Here's another wonderful, wonderful work of creativity, this one from Mantis Toboggan, M.D. in the July Snow post. To be clear, this joke doesn't have to utilize the whole texting format to work, but if we ever blow hot air about the importance of the cognitive delay in boosting the comedic impact of a punchline, this is a fucking perfect example. The texting format significantly delays the reader's ability to pick up on the fact that it's a joke at all, let alone navigate its mechanics. We're not talking about minutes here, we're literally dealing in tenths or even hundredths of a second, but that's all it takes. It's actually a fun little trick to watch out for when you're laughing at something. Anyway, great comment. I laughed quite a bit at this.

Total Fucking Duds

I'm sure I don't need to say too much about this, from Carmello Yello in the July Snow post. What a total fucking train wreck. Get. A. Clue.

Hey, that's it for tonight. I'd like to thank the industrious chaps over at MKMUB for taking the initiative last night and filling in in my absence without my knowledgepermissionblessing having to ask, and assure everyone they'll be hearing from my team of attorneys I'll still be doing Roundups as often as I can manage.

Have a great night. Keeping bringing your best stuff - this week has been really excellent. Great work, everybody.

2 comments:

I suspect that the history books will point to this week as the turning point for the commentariat in the Kinja era. That is to say, IMG will probably start a DUAN thread about it on Monday or something. Still, great week. And you're no small part of that, Shitehawk. Thanks and great stuff as always.